It will be 11 weeks tomorrow since I instructed my solicitor to act for me in the sale of my present house & the purchase of my new one. I was able to give him all the documentation immediately because I had it stored in a fireproof box at home. The house I am buying is new, but leasehold. My freehold house was completed in 2008. So both are on the Land Registry & should be straight forward. It should be possible to exchange in 6 weeks.
Previously I have used specialist on line Conveyancing only companies. This time it is a "proper" Solicitor. Previously I have been able to track progress, or lack of it, on line. For example there is an online portal called Veyo, but there are dozens of Conveyancing companies using similar tools. You don't have to keep chasing. You know what has been done & what they are waiting for & they know you know.
This time things haven't worked well. There are several reasons. Covid & Brexit don't help of course. Both have caused uncertainty in all markets. There was a flurry of activitiy in the housing market after the relaxation of the first Lockdown because of pent up demand. Those people want to move in before Christmas. Then there is the Stamp Duty pause until March 2021. People don't want to miss out on that.
I accept all of that - Completely out of my control.
However, I didn't get the lease document from the sellers untill the evening of the 27th November - Almost 9 weeks into the process. (Apparently my solicitor had it for a month before that). That document, it transpired, is an old, generic, document which is used for any properties sold by the company, who have 60 top end retirement estates in the south of England. Goodness knows how many individual properties. Their first property was in near Salisbury in 1977. I get the distict impression that not much has changed in the document since then! It is written in completely impenetrable, unpunctuated, legalese!
Call me strange, but I expect to be able to read & understand a document I sign. The Plain English Campaign agree with me & give a Crystal Mark as a seal of excellence.
http://www.plainenglish.co.uk/
In the past two weeks I have spent hours, no exaggeration, trying to understand & get answers to queries that arose from the lease document. It simply isn't relevant to my property in places. Some of the clauses are ridiculous - I should have my inside windows cleaned every 4 weeks & get agreement if I want to decorate the inside of my home! Really?
I have been the "fish paste in the sandwich" between my Agent, my Solicitor and a really competent & helpful person who works for the estate I am supposed to be buying into. Speedy & effective communication is really important in conveyancing. I think the solicitors are just overwhelmed with the sheer volume of deals they are working on currently. Those who shout loudest stay at the top of the pile. I don't work that way. I just expect competence, professionalism & efficiency. After all I'm paying quite a bit for it.
Now, if I don't exchange by 12.00 tomorrow I lose my removal slot. I'm not going to make it, because according to my solicitor he has been waiting since the 1st December for the answers to quite a few queries. I've no idea what they are or why they haven't been answered.
I'm more than a bit pissed off - At both sides of the equation. My buyer is ready to exchange. Goodness knows how long he will remain patient.
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